Sun-Dried Tomatoes ... what's the dealio ...???

[SpaceAge]

I've read to slice them & Dry 'em

I've read slice 'em and place in a vinegar brine overnight and THEN dry them

when I've seen them in stores it appears that they are / were whole , not slices ...


so ...??? HUH ?:eek:

[AcidRain23]

Space-

Depends on what kinda tomato you're trying to dry-
If you've got big slicers, then slice and drain em before you dehydrate-
Cherry tomatoes, and meaty plum types can simply be cut in half (quarters if you've got big plums) and dried. My only experience has been with using the food dehydrator and I dry them until they are brittle so they store much longer.
You may have to turn them a couple of times to get them to dry evenly.

Now, if you are trying to go for the ones like you get at the store that are still kinda soft, I haven't been able to achieve that (and they spoil quickly unless you freeze em or use some other sort of preservative). I'm sure others here can comment on how to make them come out like that though.

Hope that helps!

[ovenbird]

At least cutting them in half sure speeds up the process. Last year I was drying small tomatoes, I halved the black cherries and yellow pears and quartered red velvet and green grape, Red currants i figured were small enough. Well, the red currants took three days to dry whereas the other were dry in half a day.

Above info is about my drying in my Harvest Maid electric dryer in humid Iowa. Since you live in a much dryer place, you may be able to wait for whole tomatoes to dry in the sun. You can flavor tomatoes with various brines/herb mixtures before drying, but I believe that the brining would work better on cut tomatoes.

[SpaceAge]

... Well see , that was my thought pattern here .. I was thinkin' of slicing Romas in half , salting with coarse Kosher salt on the open cut sides and placing between 2 screens to dry in the VERY HOT AZ Sun ...

I was thinkin' Tomato Jerky ... :eek::cool:

[AcidRain23]

Oh yeah, you have the AZ sun to work with. Do it! Too humid in the summer here unfortunately.

[SpaceAge]

Oh yeah, you have the AZ sun to work with. Do it! Too humid in the summer here unfortunately.

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http://idigmygarden.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=256&pictureid=3079

red ripe Romas' split , misted w/ vinegar , dusted w/ garlic powder fine black pepper coarse Kosher salt and dried basil crushed & sprinkled on top ...

http://idigmygarden.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=256&pictureid=3080

Drying rack , a free pallet on a block w/ 2ea window screens

they'll be jerky by tomorrow night ... I could only leave them out for a half an hour and I had to put the screens in my enclosed trailer as we had a Haboob hit @ 5pm ( a dust storm ) ... I'll up-date tomorrow PM as they are dried ... :eek::cool:

[muppetcow]

Oh, man, Space...those look GOOOOOOOOD. You're making me drool.

[Emerald]

I dry them but not like that- I just don't always have the sun. One of these days the solar dehydrator will come to life- it will just take time- took me almost a year to do the Earth oven!:o:D
But do you know what kind of screens those are? I would not use aluminum due to the connections to Alzheimer's and I wouldn't use any that were fiberglass due to that might not be the best to ingest!:eek: You can use those two but I would cover them with light muslin first- plus flies can lay eggs thru screen if it is touching the tomatoes. (gee, I am a killjoy this morning:o sorry) But then again you might not have the same critters we have here. When I dehydrate outside, so the heat from it is not inside with me, the smell brings wasps around so I have a small piece of plastic screening over the hole of the dryer.
If you enjoy the tomatoes when you get them done, you might think about making a set of light wooden stretchers with muslin that can be washed and reused year after year. I do know that you can buy food safe plastic (ya right food safe plastic, sounds like an oxi-moron to me :D)screens for making dehydrators at home but it is expensive.

[lalbers]

oh boy, space, I know your heat down there, them maters gonna be dry in an hour! How are you going to store them afterwards? Let us know how they taste, and how you'e going to use them. Look really good!

[SpaceAge]

oh boy, space, I know your heat down there, them maters gonna be dry in an hour! How are you going to store them afterwards? Let us know how they taste, and how you'e going to use them. Look really good!


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5PM up-date : HOLY MOLY !!!

Man are they good ... like an organic "candy" treat ...the entire top row is ... uhhh ... somehow missing ...:rolleyes:

They are at the stage where the top faces are dry enough that they are chewy , when you bite in the condensed warm juices gush into your mouth about the time that the coarse salt and basil flakes are tickling your smart brain parts ... dannnggg !!! I dunno , I don't see "storage" as an issue :D

[AcidRain23]

Cool, glad that worked out for you.
I do a lot of dehydrating of maters, cause the missus hates em fresh.
Likes em "sundried" though.

Space- do you know about 'smoke dried' tomatoes?
I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it sounds amazing.

[SpaceAge]

Cool, glad that worked out for you.
I do a lot of dehydrating of maters, cause the missus hates em fresh.
Likes em "sundried" though.

Space- do you know about 'smoke dried' tomatoes?
I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it sounds amazing.

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hmmm I know where I can score some mesquite ...:rolleyes:


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DOH !

[SpaceAge]

oh boy, space, I know your heat down there, them maters gonna be dry in an hour! How are you going to store them afterwards? Let us know how they taste, and how you'e going to use them. Look really good!

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Cheeze Crisp covered with SDT's , sprinkled w/ Cayenne , Arbol & drops of Lime Juice ... Tortilla cooked on one of those flat Cast Iron thingies* with coarse salt all over the surface of the Iron ...

mmm mmm mmm mmm ...

* what is that thingie called ...?

burp ...

[Blanesgarden]

Are you kidding me Space?
Its really this easy?:eek:

[SpaceAge]

Are you kidding me Space?
Its really this easy?:eek:

easy as slicing a tomato ,misting with vinegar , sprinkling on the stuff YOU want on them & place between 2ea old window screens for a couple days ,

the last day they were on a pizza tray on the dash of my farm Pickup to stay out of the afternoon duststorms and the glass windshield transfered lots of solar energy to the pizza plate & basically baked the bottoms ( skins ) real good .
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=256&pictureid=3105


Man they are awesome just to pick up a couple & eat 'em , but on that cheeze crisp ... yowzaws ... I can see these on a pizza with some decent peppers and Linguisa or Chaurice ... :eek::cool:

[older than dirt]

looks like they dryed real nice . Ive never tryed tomatoes but apples , pears green beans & peppers dry well in the ozarks with a set up similar to the one space age pictured.